reporting emergencies

[Guest guest]

Ya know, when I was in DC for Police Week, a man at the end of my row at the

Memorial Service started having difficulty breathing. I whipped out my cell

phone and called 9-1-1. As I did so, I was asking the gentleman standard

questions ref medical hx, age, symptoms, etc. So the DC 9-1-1 Operator

comes on the line, I explain I have a gentleman having difficulty breathing;

OK, she says, I'll transfer you to EMS. So far so good. EMS comes on the

line, I give location and problem, and the first question out of her mouth

is " Is there a police officer nearby? " Now, I had just told her we were on

the Capitol lawn for Police Memorial Day. DUH, there's about 10,000 of

them!!! Literally. Most of them don't know any more than I do, in fact

most of them know LESS. I must admit, I rather frostily told her I was an

off-duty 9-1-1 dispatcher and I could PROBABLY handle it. (Insert sarcasm

here.) Right after that, a Secret Service agent who had observed the

commotion showed up, started talking into his sleeve, and the NEXT thing,

someone from the Office of the House Physician showed up. Coooollll. Man

was okay, just having a panic attack, he refused transport and stayed for

the ceremony. All's well that ends well, but I sure was insulted by my

colleague in DC.

Kim

Re: RE: 911:: Knoxville Fatal Ambulance Accident

Just like many folks are ill prepared to report an emergency...

---

Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).

Version: 6.0.488 / Virus Database: 287 - Release Date: 6/5/03

[Guest guest]

That stinks that you got such a reaction. I've only had to call 911

six times (this calendar year), but I almost always get a wonderfully

professional person. Of course, that could be because I always call

as a dispatcher for campus security and we call them so frequently

for non-emergency stuff (50+ person parties, detox candidates, etc)

that I'm sure I've talked to every single person there excepting only

the people on night shift... And I've talked to about half of those.

I would only be slightly surprised to find that a couple of them are

starting to know who I am when I call...

The only really weird times are when I'm calling in something of

importance to my own agency, pretty much for the reasons Mike

listed...

*grin*

Angie